EMail #1

Sorry I haven't gotten these out, I need to get back into the habit of blogging. We received a short email from Kurtis last week and another this week. Enjoy!

Hey Mom,
I will be emailing home every thursday. That is my P-day. I got to go to the temple this morning and it was amazing. The provo temple is beautiful. Tell kadin that it is about time that he starts going to football. :) I am just kidding, he will do awesome. One of the Elders in my district, Elder Johnson, just found out that his older brother just got engaged. That is a hint for Devin. Elder Coleman is awesome. It has been amazing at how fast all of the Elders in my district have clicked. There are 13 of us in my district. It is currently the largest district in the MTC.

I sent 2 letters home already. I dont know when you will get them, but that is okay. My companions name is Elder Reich. Ask dad how to pronounce it. I would like a big pack of AA batteries, or rechargeable ones with a charger. I lost all of the ones I had back home. And I dont remember where I put my charger. I would also like a lot more pencil markers for my scriptures. The 2 that I brought are not very good. The lead breaks every time I sharpen them, so they are already almost gone. A better pencil sharpener would be nice as well. The one that I have is very dull and does not work that well.

The MTC has been amazing. The first few days took forever to get through. But this last week has gone by super fast. I have had so many spiritual experiences it is unreal. I have one after the other constantly. I have already seen a bunch of other Elders that I knew back in school, so that has been nice. The day that I got here we had 600 other sisters and Elders come in that same day! There are about 2000 missionaries here right now. Let's see, the other Elders in my district are... Elders Delbar, Morse, Koplin, Covey, Pinson, Coleman, Shroedtder, Tavo, Johnson, Rasmussen, Ahlstrom, Reich and Me. My teachers are Brother, or Rahaly, Sell, Aldous, and we just found out yesterday that Rakoto Jean, Our investigator, is our third teacher, Brother Bingham. So about "Rakoto Jean". We had to teach him our second day here in Malagasy. It was the scariest thing that I have ever done. We have taught him 4 times now, but it is still terrifying avery time. We are now supposed to teach him without notes and I am very nervous to do so. I have already learned so much, but I want it to just come to me. I know it wont, and that is why I am studying as much as I can.

The whole 8 hours of sleep is not that great. I was tired for the first few days, but I think that my body is about adjusted to it. I think the worst part of the MTC is how long you are constantly sitting down in the classroom. We are in the classroom for up to 9 hours a day. It gets really boring really fast. I found out about the pills I get to take to prevent malaria yesterday. We have to take one a day starting 2 days before we leave, every day while in Madagascar, and every day for a year after I get home. Our teachers told us that they didn't take the pills unless they got acne. It is also used as an acne treatment pill. So it is a win win situation for me.

We have already had 2 devotionals since I have been here. One on sunday and one on tuesday. They have them on those days every week. Another thing that I found out is that we fly out on the 18 so we get there on the 20th. I am not positive that that is correct, but that is what I have heard. I am doing well and am still positive. I have yet to have a bad day. That has been a huge blessing. I think that is about all that I have to say. If you have any questions let me know. Oh and please send me letters in the mail. I did get the one from Brother and Sister Peterson. It was very nice. I dont think that I will be making any large purchases soon. I did get a couple notebooks and a big tube of toothpaste already. Thanks for all of the prayers. Please dont stop. Love You. Talk to you next week.

Elder Hammer